The slopes of the Lovoš hill in the Bohemian Central Highlands were covered with prickly pears, cacti originally from America. Botanists are not very happy about the presence of the plant in the unique steppe, it behaves invasively, takes space from protected species, that is why they intervene against it. Kateřina Tremlová, a botanist from the Protected Landscape Area of the České středohoří, announced this on Friday.
The peak and slopes of the mountain are protected as a national nature reserve. According to tradition, prickly pears were planted here by an amateur botanist in the 1950s. “They are doing so well that we had to start liquidating them five years ago. However, I kept a few of them considering that they are such a rarity. Now they are growing again,” said Tremlová.
Prickly pear is evidenced by climate change, winters without frost and snow. “It can handle the cold weather and continues to reproduce vegetatively,” said the botanist. An ordinary tourist cannot get directly to the plant, because they have to follow marked paths through the nature reserve, and there are no cacti on them. Botanists have already noted them elsewhere, for example under the ruins of Kalich Castle in Litoměřick.
Prickly pear is evidenced by climate change, winters without frost and snow. According to the botanist, it can handle cold weather and continues to reproduce vegetatively. | Photo: Profimedia.cz
A number of rare plant species grow in the Český středohoří. For example, the rabbit, which is locked in wire cages, has earned the protection of experts. “The open gorse is paying for the fact that the management of the landscape has completely changed over the last half century. It suited him because grazing maintained low grasslands similar to the steppes. Without it, the landscape gradually becomes overgrown and the gorse and other steppe species do not thrive in it. The rescue program counts on care about individual localities in order to preserve or restore suitable living conditions for this beautiful plant,” said Petr Vít from the Nature and Landscape Protection Agency of the Czech Republic.
According to Tremlová conicleca, Zjara is one of the first tasty plants. “Often their flowers and leaves are literally grazed by roe deer and fallow deer or stung by pheasants. That is why we equip them with cages in some places to prevent this. Such cages are now also seen in the Bohemian Central Highlands,” she said.
The protected landscape area of the České středohoří lies mainly in the Ústecké and partly in the Liberecké region. The area is the second largest PLA in the Czech Republic. Milešovka and Lovoš hills are among the most sought-after places. The air sports center Raná or the stone organ on Panská skála are also popular with visitors.
Tags: Cacti growing slopes Bohemian Central Mountains botanists happy
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